*Ethan Cole*
313 Words
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*CRASHING INTO YOU*
*Chapter 9*
*NOELLE'S POV*
I could feel everyone staring.
No one touches Ethan Cole.
No one walks up to him. No one talks to him unless he talks first.
And here I was, arms around his waist in the middle of a restaurant.
The whole room went quiet.
Waiters froze. The man he was talking to stopped mid-sentence.
They were all waiting.
Waiting for Ethan to push me away. To say something cold.
He didn’t.
I tilted my head up, winked at him.
Please play along. Please.
Ethan looked down at me. For a second his face was blank.
Then he smiled. Small. Real.
“Love,” he said, and his voice was warm.
“I can never stay mad at you. Not even for a second.”
A few gasps. I heard them.
Behind me, Jack’s voice cracked.
“You’re disgusting,” he said. “Hooking up with Ethan Cole and still going on a date with me?”
Ethan let me go, but he didn’t let me step away. His hand found mine.
He turned to Jack, calm.
“We had a disagreement,” Ethan said. “She threatened to leave me. That’s all.”
Jack’s jaw dropped. “This is—”
“Don’t,” Ethan cut him off. One word.
Jack looked at me, then at Ethan, then stormed out in anger.
The restaurant was still dead silent.
Even the man Ethan was with looked shocked. Like he’d never seen Ethan do this before.
Ethan turned to him. “Excuse me.”
Then he looked at me. “Come on.”
He led me outside. His hand was still holding mine.
Straight to his black SUV.
Driver opened the door.
Ethan helped me in, got in after me, and the car pulled away.
No one said a word until we were down the street.
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- Writer
